Friday, 16 October 2015

In last week’s issue we mentioned the desperate and
monotonous regularity with which Boston Borough Council trots out the Stump and
the twice-weekly market as the main attractions that draw people to the town.

But there are also a couple of newcomers.

The more important of the two is the signing of the
Mayflower Compact … whose partners – mainly a bunch of councils – will work towards the 400th
anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower on the shores of America in 2020.

The original Mayflower Compact was
signed at sea on 11th November 1620. It set out how the New World
colony of Plymouth would be governed – and would later form part of the US
constitution.

The wafflers tell us: “The
Mayflower 400 vision and goals is a programme of events on a transformational scale that is being led
by Plymouth UK and Plymouth Massachusetts, and is a platform for a national
celebration of the remarkable relationship between the UK and US, which began
with the sailing of the Mayflower in 1620.

“It will once again place them,
their heritage and its contribution to world history, on the global map.”

“The arrival of the Mayflower is celebrated
by many in the US as “the beginning
of a national legacy, and in the UK as the beginning
of one of the most enduring alliances the world has ever known.”

***

In Boston, we make much of this –
and the words Pilgrim and Mayflower litter the directory of local
businesses and the like.

But the fact is that none of this
has much to do with Boston.

Some careful economy with the facts appears on Boston Guildhall’s webpage,which
says: “So far as can be trusted from
historic records there is no doubting
that the Pilgrim Fathers sought to
make their first escape bid overseas from the Lincolnshire coast, close to
Boston in 1607, were betrayed, arrested and locked up in the Guildhall. Escape
from religious persecution was their aim; their crime was seeking to leave the
country without the permission of the King.

“It is this first recorded act of
defiance, and the first recorded steps along the path which was to eventually
take them to America to become an important part of the founding fathers, that
forms such a close bond with Boston for Americans.”

That’s about the most you can say
…

Although the website refers to
them as the Pilgrim Fathers – they were then known as “Separatists” and their
plan to escape England was with the end destination of Holland as their target.

***

Not only that, but Boston’s
so-called Pilgrim Fathers tried to escape thirteenyears before the real McCoy sailed from Plymouth.

And the people of the town that
eventually settled across the Atlantic sailed to America between ten and 14
years afterwards – in 1630, 1633 and
1634 – supported as New World development
assets by the Massachusetts Bay Company.

To make things even worse, these
very first settlers from Plymouth, were initially referred to as the Old Comers and later as the Forefathers, and did not become known as
the Pilgrim Fathers until two centuries after
their arrival.

***

But, over time, Boston’s place as
a footnote to the pages of history has been greatly aggrandized.

Our illustration at the top of the
page shows how this was traded upon – with a heavily romanticised railway
poster showing the PFs setting sail from the Guildhall gazing misty-eyed toward
their destination.

At least two prominent historians
have looked into any possible links between Boston and the Pilgrim Fathers.

In his 1856 immensely thorough History and Antiquities of Boston and the
Hundred of Skirbeckundred of
SkirbeckH, Pishey Thompson – who also spent time in the US Boston in the
1840’s, and so might have had greater reason than most to look for ties to the
original settlers had this to say …

And 130 years later, local
journalist George Bagley came to the same conclusion in his excellent book Boston – its story and people.

***

But venture across a couple of
county borders, and our claim to have played a major role in all of this is put
into perspective in not-too-distant Bassetlaw – where they have much to shout
about.

The Nottinghamshire district
council offers a Welcome to Pilgrim
Country, with a well-planned
circular tour of key visitor points for those wanting to learn all about the Old Comers … errr … Forefathers … err …Pilgrim
Fathers.

Plans are well advanced to develop
a currently disused barn at Scrooby – described as the spiritual home of the Pilgrim Fathers.

If you have taken a look at the
Pilgrim County leaflet, you will note that Boston barely rates a mention.

Not only that but a footnote
declares “The Mayflower Trail may be
extended from Gainsborough, via the A156 to Lincoln (18 miles) and Boston (52
miles.)”

***

So what do we have? The mayor’s ‘X’ on a “compact” which will benefit
most of the other signatories far more than it will Boston.

The place with most to gain will
be Plymouth, doubtless followed by Bassetlaw and after that …

All the we have is a shaky
connection between a group of people who were thwarted in their attempts to
flee to Holland thirteen years before the Pilgrim Fathers (none of whom were
Bostonians) set sail from Plymouth to the New World.

And what can we offer?

About the best we can muster is
the Puritan Path” at Boston Stump – a
memorial to 12 men and women who sailed from our Boston to found the other
Boston in Massachusetts in 1630.

But that’s another – and completely
different – story.

We suspect that the most likely impact
of the Mayflower 2020 celebrations will be the excuse for a Worst Street civic
party of some sort to enjoy a freebie in America – which won’t do the rest of us
the slightest bit of good.

***

None of this seems to deter Boston
Borough Council’s plan to change the way we celebrate Christmas with the
introduction of Illuminate – a
planned annual ceremony on US Thanksgiving Day which will be used to to mark
the anniversary of the Mayflower landing in four years’ time.

Perhaps the reason for this is
because Worst Street can get the luvvies at Transported
to build a model Mayflower for them – this year at least.

They might then hope that moving
the celebratory goalposts will persuade businesses to stump up money to fund
this on-going novelty for another four years – which would take matters beyond
the next elections and therefore make them someone else’s problem.

The Thanksgiving holiday tradition
seems most likely traced back to a “poorly documented” celebration held in 1621
at Plymouth, Massachusetts when the Old
Comers … errr … Forefathers
… err …Pilgrim Fathers and Wampanoag
Indians had a harvest feast.

We’ve looked at this from all
directions, but still can’t see why we will no longer make Christmas the main focus
of our commemorations at this time of year and instead mark American
Thanksgiving Day – especially as the evidence of a Boston connection is so
flimsy.

***

All this moves us seamlessly to
Boston’s other big cunning plan – membership of Die Hansa – a form of resurrection
of the Hanseatic League of which Boston was a member along with around 200
other medieval ports and cities in medieval times.

Unlike other former league
members, Boston has absolutely nothing to show that it was once a member –
other than an artist’s impression of the “steelyard” where goods were once weighed
and stamped.

History tells us that Boston’s
part in all of this was less than glorious.

There were problems with wool
being smuggled locally without duty, the
decline of the salt exporting trade, and then, in about 1470, a foreign trader
was murdered by Boston merchant
Humphrey Littleburye – which led to the ending of the Hansa link when the
Esterling family quit the town.

And we’re celebrating this …?

***

Daft as all the above mentioned
stuff is, we don’t expect anything by way of public reaction.

But what does set local opinion alight is … toilets – especially when
they are under threat.

And that now looks to be the case
in Boston.

A report to this week‘s Environment
and Performance Committee reviews the operation of the five public toilets
still run by Worst Street at the inordinately
high cost of £200,000 a year, with income from the three which charge expected
to be around £21,400.

Ominously, beneath the heading Future Provision the report notes: “There
are a number of local authorities across the country who have made the decision
that, as a Discretionary Service, they will cease
to provide public toilet facilities and have looked at private provision
i.e. working with partners in the
commercial sector to enable them to open their
facilities to the general public, whether they be retail outlets or public
houses, or hotels, for example.

“As part of the Task and Finish
Group looking at the town centre, this
option may well be discussed as a potential solution for the borough council
to consider, as there is no doubt that, even with an income stream arising from
charging, the costs of provision will always be considerable.”

We think that this can safely be
taken to mean that Worst Street will ask local businesses to throw their toilet
doors open wide to all comers whilst the council pockets the money it had
previously spent and brags of yet another partnership.

Of course, most shops, pubs or
hotels don’t currently charge customers to use their facilities.

And if the Worst Street idea were
to be adopted, they would presumably absorb a large amount of the £200,000 bill.

But worse might be on the cards
for them

A year ago, Boston’s Goody
Two Shoes News (circulation 783)
presented readers with an album of nauseating photographs in a so-called
attempt to explain away complaints by council-run toilet users …

Beneath the heading DEFILED
– DEPRAVED Would you clean it up? GTSN told readers: “Images connected with this
article come with a warning: They show graphic scenes of the disgusting
condition some have left Boston’s public toilets in. If you do not have a
strong stomach then do not look at them.

“They are used to demonstrate
that, despite the best efforts of council staff, some people persist in leaving
visitors with the wrong impression; that public toilets in Boston are neglected
and not maintained.”

Might this explain Worst Street’s
enthusiasm for the possibility of dumping the problem on someone else? No pun
intended.

***

GTSN’s policy of ramping up any
possible detrimental news for Boston had a field day this week supporting Hate Crime Week.

Another sizzling headline
read: Help stop Hate Crime before it ends in murder and went on: “This
was brought home to Boston when Sophie Lancaster’s mother, Sylvia, came to the
town as a guest of Boston Borough Council to speak about the tragic way in
which her daughter had become a victim of hate crime.”

Sophie was attacked and subsequently died because she wore
Goth style clothing.

The incident happened in Bacup in Lancashire in 2007, and Sophie’s mother was invited
to Boston to talk about it in 2011 as
part of a previous awareness week.

Overall the impression given by Worst Street’s coverage of
this suggests a serious problem in Boston.

But – whilst local figures aren’t available – the total of
hate crimes in Lincolnshire in 2014-2015 was 243 … or 0.03% of the population

This doesn’t mean that it is not important – but it ought to
be seen in perspective, and not over-promoted in a way that bangs yet another
nail in Boston’s coffin by making it sound a bad and dangerous place to live
when it isn’t.

Incidentally, Lincolnshire Police statistics tell us that
since January 2008, the number of hate crimes directed at members of the punk
and Goth community has totalled precisely – NIL.

***

Mention of GTSN reminds us … a reader who queried the cost
of the production of the council’s daily bulletin received the precise – but we
think implausible – answer that it worked out at £11.06 a day … an annual cost of
£2,867.60.

Either these figures have been calculated in a way to avoid
criticism or the two people who produce it must be among the lowliest-paid in
Worst Street.

***

We have been critical throughout the long winded process of
naming local “heroes” whose unsung generosity and service to the community has
been recognised by a cack-handed “salute” on the borough’s dustbin lorries.

Worse still, now that the giant posters are on display, a
sinister picture has emerged of “faceless” people.

Take this one for instance…

Tea is being served – for some strange reason in the middle
of a field that is energetically being harvested – by a featureless waitress to
an equally blank-faced clutch of customers.

However, it’s not all eerie …

In another illustration – depicting Boston’s fishing fleet –
again, whilst without expression, there is a hint of humour in that one of the
sailors appears to be dancing a hornpipe …

Or so it seems.

***

Don’t forget that this coming Monday 19th October
is your first chance to publicly question members of the Worst Street Cabinet
of Curiosities at a special session starting at 6pm.

It’s dead easy – all you have to do is initially submit the
question in writing, and then be prepared to attend the session in person to
ask your question and receive the answer.

Your questions must be relevant to the council’s duties and
responsibilities or issues that affect the borough, and the sessions are
exclusively for members of the public resident in Boston borough.

Rumours that a family pet had to be surrendered as a hostage
appear to be unfounded.

***

In our earlier piece about public toilet provision for
Boston, we noted mention of Worst Street’s latest Task and Finish committee –
this time to “look” at the town centre.

Sadly, Boston Borough
Council devotes an unhealthy amount of time to navel-gazing whilst neighbouring
districts cut to the chase … they come up with an idea, develop it and then put
it into action.

Last Friday, for instance, saw the annual Spalding Pumpkin Parade, which has been
running for several years, and which is sponsored by a local grower who claims
to be the largest pumpkin producer in Europe.

It provides entertainment throughout the day and draws
visitors from a wide area.

And last week also saw the first Made in Sleaford exhibition taking place over two days across three
Sleaford venues.

Richard Noble – who held the land speed record between 1983
and 1997 – was a guest speaker.

The Bloodhound car
he is behind is designed to achieve 1,000 mph – and is sponsored by
Sleaford-based SHD Composites.

Councillor Marion Brighton, leader of North Kesteven
District Council, said: “It is not only the nose cone of the Bloodhound
supersonic car which carries the name and reputation of Sleaford around the
world, but many other world-class products which we are proud to say come from
this town ...

… “I defy anyone not to discover something new in the wealth
of Sleaford's extensive productivity, from flour to films, pianos to ploughs,
violins, vegetables, and even an engine featured in a Bond film."

Made in Sleaford
was staged last Friday and Saturday
between 10am and 5pm and included a free family-friendly fun day with
entertainment, music, an aerial dance rig and food producers’ display.

And what was Worst Street doing last weekend?

No doubt thinking about taking a look at how to make
something of the town centre.

It’s not even a start.

***

Traffic wardens seem to be more in evidence in Boston these
days – although they are often spotted in the out of town areas where the job
is more like shooting fish in a barrel than preventing problems cause by
illegal parking.

Recent figures from Lincolnshire County Council tell us that
so far this year Boston’s Market Place is where you are most likely to receive
a fine, with Sheep Market in Spalding second and Wide Bargate in Boston third.

Silver Street and Portland Street in Lincoln complete the
top five locations.

The enforcers’ diligence in Boston has helped Lincolnshire
County Council make a £50,730 surplus on £1,110,277 in fines from 35,517
tickets as part of its professed determination to reduce inconsiderate parking
and congestion across Lincolnshire.

Our roving cameraman recently caught this candid picture (above) of
a warden at work in Boston …

***

Whilst Boston Borough Council is getting its knickers in a
twist about Hate Crime, far more serious is the day-to-day way of life in the
town which Worst Street chooses to overlook.

Lincolnshire Police imposed a dispersal order in Boston Town Centre last weekend between 9pm on
Friday and 6am on Sunday, covering roughly the same area as the current Public
Space Protection Order – pronounced Spo.

The cops said this was part of general procedure, and was
looking to relaunch its OpNova
campaign – an acronym for No to Violence
and Abuse.

So … what is a dispersal order?

The Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 gives the police powers
in designated areas to disperse groups of two or more where their presence or
behaviour has resulted, or is likely to result, in a member of the public being
harassed, intimidated, alarmed or distressed.

Lincolnshire Police say that the idea of OpNova
is to reduce alcohol related anti-social behaviour and reduce the
violence in the night time economy.

It also seems to suggest that the PSPO is not working – hence the need for the dispersal
order.

Sorting this out seems to be a more important target than
the one currently being rolled out by Worst Street through the GTSN.

But because it might be more controversial and harder to
achieve might be why it is being side-lined.

***

Time and again, we hear mention of the imminent arrival of a
new Lidl store in Tawney Street.

But as the months have gone by, the rumours that it might
not happen have been mounting …

We thought that the best way to get to the bottom of all
this would be to go to the pferdemaul – the horse’s mouth.

So we sent emails to Lidl asking about their plans for Boston
… not once … not twice … but three
times.

But antwort kam dort
keine – or to put it another way … answer came there none.

***

Finally, the BBC if no one else seems to have fallen in love
with the idea that an “Illuminate” festival should replace recognition of
Christmas in Boston.

However, they so beefed it up in a Tweet to readers that we felt obliged to add a comment.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com Your e-mails will be treated in confidence
and published anonymously if requested.

No comments:

Post a Comment

About the author

is written and edited by retired Lincolnshire born writer and broadcaster Malcolm Swire, who was brought up in London, where he began his career in journalism.
In the 1960s he joined the Boston Standard before returning to London to write for the UK’s national news agency, the Press Association – then based in Fleet Street.
He returned to Lincolnshire –where his family history goes back more than a century – in various public relations roles, before becoming a founder member of BBC Radio Lincolnshire,where he created the station's Go for Gold appeal,which raised hundreds of thousands of pounds for local charities.
Over the years, he read the news, presented programmes and retired from the BBC as the station's Programme Organiser and Deputy Managing Editor.
He started the Boston Eye blog in February 2007 and has vowed to continue until Boston Borough Council's leadership is all that it should be!
He has dug in for a long wait!